12. Casting A Euro Nymphing Rig In The Wind (12 of 20)

- [George] We have a lot of wind. So all we're going to do, again, starting with a rod tip at a level height, we're going to make the forward cast drop point right to the side or one long draw, but always keeping part of that slider just lifted off the water. - [Male] Okay. - That's all we're doing. - Just a little bit. - Just a little bit. So instead of casting and doing all the line control with the rod tip, keeping a higher rod tip allowing that one to basically push that sail around, all we're going to do is we're going to square back up, make our forward casting stroke, stiff arm, hand out, one long draw of the line hand keeping the slider tight and then we can resume leading the fly in the presentation, but that just keeps things tight and reduces the overall length of the line off the water. ♪ [music] ♪- Here, George critiques my casting and presentation. Hopefully, you'll be able to learn from the suggestions he gives me. So, George, we've had a little gust of wind here and, you know, keeping the rod high, it starts to blow the slider around and starts to feel a little like things aren't happening right, when the wind blows. What do you do...What do you do when you got a sail out there underneath your rod tip? - There's at least two things that we can do. One is obviously wind is the biggest nemesis to the tight line or contact nymph angler, the first thing we can do is just making sure that we maintain some degree of tension from the very start of the cast to the lead on the flies. Anytime you incorporate an ounce of slack in that line, the wind is going to create a bow. So you can see how there's a disconnect right there and that's a result of you cast and turning simultaneously and cranking a jerky motion. If I can just have this... - I'm making a jerky motion? Excuse me. - As my mentor, Mr. Humphrey says, "Let's eliminate the jerk on the loop." So one of the things I would like to see you do when you're making the cast, just let the fly line fall behind you. Okay. You're dropping your left shoulder just a little bit. Now what I would like to see, instead of using a very short, erratic motion, I want the hand extending out, keeping the hand out and all we're doing is just flipping the wrist. And as soon as we flip the wrist, all we're going to do is just immediately almost like a downstream reach cast, just flip and just begin sliding the hand downstream. Hold it high and begin sliding downstream. Now you have tension right from the very start. - Right. - Now in minimal amounts of wind, that's going to be okay. But that's the first thing that is just not giving the wind any slack in the presentation. - Okay. So immediately, yeah. - Immediately maintain tension and often too, with that wind, one of the things you can do is you can place that slider on that water because that slider has those knots, it creates an anchor, and it kind of holds that line tight on the water. So that's the other advantage of the knotted sections, the tag ends in that slider it creates an anchor for your slider during a wind.